CURRENT COURSES

Français III Pre-IB (Pre-AP)

French III Pre-IB (SLY1) continues to emphasize the communication skills established in levels I and II. Students will learn complex grammar structures and vocabulary necessary to exchange information, persuade, socialize, and express attitudes, opinions, feelings, and emotions. The study of Francophone culture is highlighted through films, art, literature, and authentic readings. This course will prepare students for the International Baccalaureate French Language Exam (SL)

At the end of the course, students are expected to be at a Intermediate-Low level according the the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines.

In this course, Pre-AP is self-study. We are touching on subjects and skills relevant to the AP exam through the IB curriculum but students should study independently the structure of the AP exam.

Speakers at the Intermediate Low sublevel are able to handle successfully a limited number of uncomplicated communicative tasks by creating with the language in straightforward social situations. Conversation is restricted to some of the concrete exchanges and predictable topics necessary for survival in the target-language culture. These topics relate to basic personal information; for example, self and family, some daily activities and personal preferences, and some immediate needs, such as ordering food and making simple purchases. At the Intermediate Low sublevel, speakers are primarily reactive and struggle to answer direct questions or requests for information. They are also able to ask a few appropriate questions. Intermediate Low speakers manage to sustain the functions of the Intermediate level, although just barely.

Intermediate Low speakers express personal meaning by combining and recombining what they know and what they hear from their interlocutors into short statements and discrete sentences. Their responses are often filled with hesitancy and inaccuracies as they search for appropriate linguistic forms and vocabulary while attempting to give form to the message. Their speech is characterized by frequent pauses, ineffective reformulations and self-corrections. Their pronunciation, vocabulary, and syntax are strongly influenced by their first language. In spite of frequent misunderstandings that may require repetition or rephrasing, Intermediate Low speakers can generally be understood by sympathetic interlocutors, particularly by those accustomed to dealing with non-natives.